A day later, there is no clear information on the causes of the plane crash on Wednesday morning near Aktau, Kazakhstan, in which an airliner operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed to the ground, killing 38 people. There were 67 in total on the plane, 5 of them crew members. 29 survived, including two children: they are hospitalized, some in very serious conditions.
The plane that crashed was an Embraer 190 with flight number J2 8243. It was flying from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of the Russian state of Chechnya: what is known is that during the journey it changed its course and attempted an emergency landing, crashing to the ground while attempting to do so.
The crash was captured in various videos circulating online, which showed the plane descending very quickly towards the ground, hitting the ground and then catching fire. At that point the plane broke up: its rear part remained intact on the ground, while the front part was destroyed. Other videos circulating online showed some passengers dragging others from the wreckage.
For now, conflicting versions have been given about the causes of the accident. The president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev he had initially said that the plane had been forced to divert its route because there was bad weather; the Russian news agency RIA Novosti had reported the same version, adding that there was very thick fog around Grozny airport, so the plane's landing had been rescheduled towards Kazakhstan.
Thursday afternoon some Azerbaijan government sources consulted by Euronews They said a preliminary investigation showed the plane was hit by some shrapnel from a Russian surface-to-air missile that exploded nearby. They also reported that the pilot was denied landing at Russian airports that would have been closer, forcing him to cross the Caspian Sea and reach Aktau in an emergency, where he later crashed. The information provided to Euronews they derive from a preliminary and biased investigation and must therefore be taken with caution.
Missiles of that kind are used to shoot down targets in the air such as drones, planes or other missiles. They are launched from the ground and contain a warhead that explodes even without direct impact, when the missile is close to the target. At the moment of the explosion, the fragments (sharpnel) contained within it splash out at great speed, maximizing the effect of the explosion.
According to Azerbaijani government sources, the missile was mistakenly launched in the direction of the airliner while it was flying over Grozny, where a Ukrainian drone attack was underway, and the plane was then hit by some of these shrapnel. Some images compatible with this version have circulated on social networks, showing part of the plane's fuselage punctured, but for the moment there are few elements to confirm the circumstance.
The Russian Civil Aviation Authority had previously said that preliminary information on the crash suggested the plane had hit a flock of birds before crashing. Some other information was given by the site Flightradar24according to which there would have been “strong disturbances” of the GPS signal in the area, which could have affected flight operations, but the causes are not known (some countries are known to disturb the GPS signal).
Both Azerbaijani and Kazakh authorities are investigating the incident. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan Airlines has announced that it will suspend all scheduled flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as those between Baku and Makhachkala, in the North Caucasus.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev saidor a day of national mourning for today, December 26th. According to information provided by the Kazakh authorities, on board the plane were 42 citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 of Russia, 6 of Kazakhstan and 3 of Kyrgyzstan.
